Ex-Louisiana gov convicted of corruption gets TV show

Former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards and his wife Trina Scott Edwards attend a luncheon for a Council For a Better Louisiana in Baton Rouge, La. Edwards and his wife, Trina, get their own reality show starting in February on the A&E cable network. "The Governor's Wife" is a vehicle to showcase Trina, the 30-something wife of the octogenarian ex-con former governor of the Pelican State. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards will star on a new cable TV show with the woman he married after his release from federal prison on a corruption conviction.

In a Facebook exchange Friday, Trina Scott Edwards told The Associated Press she's currently filming for "The Governor's Wife," which will showcase the 34-year-old wife of the octogenarian former governor.

According to A&E, the series will follow Trina Edwards as she tries to fit into the former governor's upscale world while trying to get along with step-daughters almost twice her age and corral her teenage sons.

The series will include Edwin Edwards' daughters: Anna, a 62-year-old four-time divorcee, and Victoria, described in a news release as "a hardened 60-year-old ex-showgirl."

Advertisement

Trina has sons from a previous marriage: Logan, 15 and Trevor, 13.

Episodes will include school projects and Trina making a run for president of the local homeowner's association. She also discusses the possible addition of a baby to the Edwards clan and skeptics who think she's a gold digger, according to the news release.

Edwards biographer Leo Honeycutt said the show has been shooting footage for more than a year. Honeycutt, who acknowledges his distaste for reality TV, said he worried the series could damage the former governor's legacy and his achievements in office.

"I'm afraid for them. I'm afraid what it's going to do them. Nobody wants to be a laughingstock, and Louisiana has had enough of that kind of treatment," Honeycutt said.

Edwin Edwards served four terms as a Democratic governor in the 1970s, '80s and '90s. He married Trina in July 2011, shortly after his release from federal prison for his role in a bribery and extortion scheme to rig riverboat casino licenses during his fourth term, which ended in 1996.

Trina, who went by Trina Grimes Scott at the time, began writing him letters while he was in prison and visited him regularly. She is Edwards' third wife.

Edwards also served in Congress and was known for his charisma in politics. Despite his link to a Korean rice scandal early in his congressional career, he was known for being able to broker deals between rural and urban interests.

He was last elected governor in 1991, when he defeated former Ku Klux Klan wizard David Duke in a landslide.

"The Governor's Wife" is the latest in a string of Louisiana-set reality shows that include A&E's "Duck Dynasty," History's "Swamp People" and CMT's "Bayou Billionaires."